The Genius Villain Dies Tomorrow

No matter how hard Rian racked his brain, whether it be through the original novel’s information or Rian Rosenheim’s memories...

He couldn’t figure out how spirits and the crystal mines could be correlated. But from the circumstantial evidence, everything lined up.

Well, Rian could sit here and think about it all he wanted, but they were already on a time crunch. So the fastest way to figure out if his hypothesis was correct or not...

Would be to investigate it personally.

Turning towards Nadine, Rian offered a deal.

"How about this?" he explained simply. "I’ll determine why spirits refuse to approach you. If Undyne truly exists somewhere in Eisenbran, I’ll help you reach her."

Nadine’s eyes narrowed. "And in exchange?"

"When Adrian’s trial begins, endorse my claim to the crystal mines instead."

For the first time, the Witch of Black Ice was deep in thought. Her expression now looked exactly like her title—cold, calculating, and trying to figure out what Rian planned to do.

"The trial is between Felix and Rosalia. You have no claim whatsoever, do you?" she stated the facts again. "One person found the mines while the other practically rules the city. What do you have?"

Well, at the moment, Nadine was right. But that didn’t matter, not really.

All he had to do was expose both sides and present himself as the independent third party. And with the backing of a 7-Star Mage as well as Adrian’s old friend, he would easily have a claim.

Using the mines and its relation to spirits, he could easily spin his claim as ’The Witch of Black Ice wants to contract a spirit. And I need the mines to help her do it."

From Adrian’s perspective, it should be a strong claim. Gaining a favor from a notoriously picky, yet powerful, mage...was no small task.

It would be as simple as taking candy from a baby.

Rian only replied with two words.

"Not yet."

Seeing his confidence, Nadine simply sighed before extending a hand. Rian took it immediately, shaking up and down enthusiastically.

"I don’t know what you’re planning," the witch said. "But if the trial concludes and the mines get handed to one of your siblings...You’re still going to keep your promise with me."

"Of course, a Rosenheim’s word is as good as law."

Nadine frowned. "I once knew someone who said the exact same thing. I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree..."

With that, the deal was complete. But with all that talk, Rian realized he had been making more promises than he could keep, really.

And it all depended on one simple factor that he hadn’t even confirmed if it was actually true or not. Still, you had to gamble to succeed. That’s what investors do after all, investing with the money they don’t have.

Leaving the Witch’s Spire, Alicia had held a contemplative look the entire time before finally deciding to ask.

"Young Master...will this actually be okay?"

"It’ll be okay if both of us do our jobs."

"Both of us?"

Rian placed a hand on her shoulder, doing his best impression of an operator from one of those cringeworthy spy flicks. "Alicia, I have an important mission for you. One only you can accomplish..."

"Just spit it out already, Young Master."

"Ah."

"Look, I need you to keep an eye on Felix."

"You...want me to spy on him?"

"Yeah." Rian nodded. "Keep Felix under surveillance. With the deadline moved forward and Charlotte’s arrival announcing my involvement, he can’t afford to dismantle Rosalia slowly anymore."

"You think he’ll make a mistake?"

"I think he’ll start removing anything that could be used against him. Follow him, identify everyone he contacts, and bring back proof."

"What about you, Young Master...?"

Rian looked toward the dense forest stretching toward the mountains. "I’m going to investigate the crystal mines, the root cause of everyone’s problem."

After what seemed like an hour, Rian managed to convince Alicia that he would be able to handle himself.

Though she only allowed him to go on the condition that he learned her camouflage spell and that he would come back without a single injury.

Well, Rian was only going to confirm the correlation between the spirits and the mines, so her conditions were easy asks. And plus, gaining a new spell is something he’d never turn down.

With another demonstration, she slowed the movement of mana just for Rian to examine it. And with a single glance...

[Curtain of Darkness has been added to Known Spells.]

It was times like these when Rian appreciated his magical talent. Usually, mages would only be compatible with one, or two elements if they were particularly gifted.

The very fact that he was compatible with all elements was already outrageous enough. To still be able to learn a spell in one glance as well as use spells above his rank—were basically god-given gifts.

’No wonder the author had to nerf this character with a damn curse, turn him into a villain, then kill him off...’

’If I wrote a character like this, I would have no idea how to write him without making absurd excuses on why he hadn’t just defeated the protagonist already.’

Departing into the woods alone, he finally had some more time to think without either Alicia or Charlotte around.

It was risky to go alone, that was for sure. However, if Rian had told Nadine about the correlation between the spirit and mines, she would be able to solve everything herself, and he would lose his main leverage.

So all Rian told her was that her presence gave them the ick. Luckily, that saddened her enough to make her stay.

Well, Nadine probably already knew that there was some kind of correlation, but hadn’t decided to check it yet. So when she eventually did so...

’She probably still thinks that the crystals attracted spirits, so she would probably build another spire there and—’

That was when the realization hit Rian.

"Wait...was that why she sealed off the mines in the original novel?! Just so she can hoard all the crystals to have a better chance?!"

But the connection to the information from the novel had confirmed a single thing. If in the novel Nadine had done that...

"Then there really were spirits down there..."

Rian made it through the blanket of green trees before arriving at a clearing. There, embedded into the mountain, was a sealed-off tunnel.

The tape was sagging, evidence that someone had been back and forth, removing and taping it again every single time they did.

"The question was—"

"Is Undyne really down there as well?"

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